Seems like almost every culinary event or upscale market is stocked with gorgeous and tasty heirloom tomatoes. With so many varieties to choose from, it can be delish fun but perhaps a bit overwhelming for consumers. No need to be shy; help is on the way. "Gifted grower" Amy Goldman is in the Bay Area this week to talk about her new tomato tome, The Heirloom Tomato: For Garden to Table. The book is full of recipes, pics, tips, and mouthwatering photos. Food lovers and gardeners alike will find something to love here. Goldman is an expert gardener with books on melons and squash.

Happy Birthday, Bi-Rite & Delfina! I did prep work today for the upcoming 18th Street Block Party, happening in SF on Saturday. Jennifer Biesty was the boss, and we worked at Charles Phan's new gorgeous and huge commissary kitchen. 18th Street Block Party food includes pig, chicken, corn, beans, hot dogs, paella, sandwiches, smoothies, watermelon agua fresca, lemonade & more. There will also be booze, music, and wonderful weather. The wine and beer garden make my mouth water already.

Slow Food celebrates "food that is good, clean and fair." These honey samples looked and tasted good. Other foods on offer at Fort Mason today at times took as long as forty five minutes to get. Thankfully, the Native Foods tent had a shorter line, and we gladly tried all three items on offer: bison chili (rich, thick, meaty, clean tasting), hominy, and wild rice cakes with a spicy kick. While I was happy to try something that reminds me of my Dad's Kwakiutl Native American heritage, I also found myself hoping that the cooks there would have a steady stream of customers all day. I had time to mull it over as we sat on hay outside, people watching, eating, drinking and talking.

It's great to have face time with the makers of these foods and drinks, sure. But it would've been a more satisfying event if the lines were not so long and slow.

Experience the Premier Culinary Event

Buy your ticket to the hottest food and wine event of 2008 and help fight hunger at the same time.

Share Our Strength remains one of my favorite
charities because they have great food events and are fiscally
responsible. I am volunteering the day of the event, and have been on
the event committee in past years. Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation® presented by
American Express is the nation's largest and finest culinary benefit,
featuring top chefs and mixologists -- all of whom will come together
this spring to donate their time, talent and passion to end childhood
hunger in America. Get your tickets here.

Iron Chef Michael Symon will be joined by three competitors from Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef”, including Gavin Kaysen (NYC's Café Boulud), as well as San Francisco’s own Chris Cosentino (Incanto/Boccalone) and Traci Des Jardins (Jardinière/Acme Chophouse/ Mijita). Finishing with the dessert course again this year is Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake fame and soon-to-open Orson.

Join us for an Asian fusion feast honoring Min Jin Lee, author of Free Food For Millionaires. With a sharp eye and articulate voice, Min Jin Lee
deftly introduces a memorable cast of characters that are as colorful
as they are troubled and as complex as they are familiar. “After 20 years as a literary escort, I find Min Jin Lee to be one of the novelists I most admire.”Naomi Epel, author of The Observation Deck and Writers Dreaming.

"I read a terrific debut novel
this week. It’s always heartening to find a good new writer, but what’s
especially delightful about Min Jin Lee and her new novel, called Free Food For Millionaires,
is that she’s taken up the expansive form of the nineteenth century
novel and its concerns about money, marriage, and duty, to create a
kind of Korean-American riff on all those sagas, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, where the principled heroine sometimes behaves like a downright fool.” – Maureen Corrigan, NPR FRESH AIR

Cost:$95 per person or $175 per coupleAIWF & Asia Society members receive a discounted rate of $90 per person or $170 per couple(includes tax, tip & an autographed copy ofFree Food For Millionaires)Sign up online here,
or call Book Passage at 415-927-0960, x1.

My Dad rolled his eyes when I said I was going to see a "chocumentary" next month. His loss! There are two screenings to choose from, and the film runs almost half an hour. Check out the website, which is colorful and appealing.

IN SEARCH OF THE HEART OF CHOCOLATE- a filmmaker, achocolate shop, assorted chocoholics, and lots andlots of chocolate

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Bay Area filmmakerSarah Feinbloom is screening her new chocumentaryfeaturing the Bay Area’s own Jack Epstein of ChocolateCovered in Noe Valley, and his customers, RichardAnderson, Suzanne McKee, and many others at theDelancey Street Screening Room, in San Francisco onFebruary 12th, 2008. Featuring chocolate from CharlesChocolates and Noe Valley Bakery, art by Liz Mamorsky,sound by Robert Berke Sound and animation by KaitlinChong, and editing by Anne Flatté, this melt in yourmouth experience celebrates the Bay Area’s finest. Aperfect evening for anyone who loves chocolate andfilm, followed by a delicious chocolate reception
byJoshua Charles Catering.

6:30 PM & 7:30 PM SCREENINGS, followed by a chocolatereception. Please reserve seats by emailinginfo@chocumentary.comTickets are $10, and DVD’s will be available forpurchase

In Search of The Heart of Chocolate is a deliciousromp through the rich and creamy, melt in your mouth,passionate world of chocolate. Follow filmmaker SarahFeinbloom as she searches for the origins of herchocolate obsession, interviewing chocolateenthusiasts along the way, delving into chocolatecake, art, fantasy, chocolate croissants,spirituality, sex, love and hot fudge, and journeyinginto the past to uncover chocolate’s special place inour hearts.

Sarah Feinbloom is an award-winning Bay Area filmmakerwhose work includes documentaries, dramatic narrative,and fundraising videos. Her film on the religiouslives of teenagers, What Do You Believe? was featuredon the cover of the
San Francisco Chronicle Date Book,and screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival, on PBS,and at festivals nationally and internationally.Recently she completed a documentary on childtrafficking in Thailand called Daughters and Sons thatwas featured on NPR and won the Best Short Film onChild Advocacy at the Artivist Film Festival. Sarahthoroughly enjoyed making her latest film, achocumentary-In Search of The Heart of Chocolate,which involved lots of taste-testing and sampling.

Tomorrow I'm attending a Luscious Lunch with the Food Network's Ellie Krieger, at Garibaldi's Restaurant in San Francisco. Her new cookbook is called Foods You Crave, and the menu will be from recipes in the book. I have to give Barbara Lane of the JCCSF a shout out for inviting me. Barbara is the JCCSF's Director of Lectures & Literature, and will be "in conversation" with Krieger.

We would like to invite you to save a space on your calendar for the gastronomic event of the season on September 28th featuring “Women Chefs of San Francisco Celebrating 20 Years of James Beard.”

The culinary extravaganza is crowned by a gala dinner featuring Beard Award winners including special guest chef extraordinaire Gale Gand, Executive Pastry Chef of Tru in Chicago; Traci des Jardins of Jardiniere, the 2007 California winner; and Nancy Oakes of Boulevard. Fellow Award winners author-chef Joanne Weir and Cindy Pawlcyn of Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen will also headline the benefit on Friday, September 28th at St. Regis San Francisco.

The evening will be presided over by Joey Altman, local food luminary and host of KRON's Bay Cafe. Highlights will include special guest Susan Ungaro,
the president of the James Beard Foundation toasting the chefs and
dinner guests during a dessert reception featuring mouth-watering
confections, wine pairings by women winemakers, and followed by a
silent auction benefiting the James Beard Foundation.

The celebration will continue onSaturday, September 29th with an in-store Williams Sonoma Festival Day saluting founder Chuck Williams, at the Union Square flagship store. The Festival will include cooking demonstrations, cookbook signings, artisanal tastings and children’s activities.

In
addition to benefiting the James Beard Foundation, a portion of the
proceeds from the dinner will also be donated to the San Francisco Food
Bank.

St. Regis Hotel, On the Terrace125 Third Street, San Francisco

Reception at 6:30pmDinner at 7:30pmDessert Buffet at 9:30pmSilent auction at 10:00pm